Bath Fringe Festival Returns

Bath Fringe Festival returns in full force for their 40th anniversary year.

Bath Fringe Festival returns this year after two summers of pulling together smaller,
distanced, or even online events during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst it’s fair to say that
not everyone working in grassroots arts are back on their feet after the tribulations of the
past two years (or have survived the pandemic), the festival is back in full force this year,
with more than one hundred performances and events taking place from the 27th May -
12th June.
2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the Fringe, with the first festival taking place in the
summer of 1982. To mark this milestone birthday there will be opportunities to share your
memories of previous years’ festivals, and details of a special anniversary archive project
will be announced in the next few weeks.
Bringing new energy to this year’s Fringe are several new venues, which also bring an
opportunity for new kinds of shows; the newly taken over Burdall’s Yard will be hosting
several emerging and established theatre companies, whilst The Grapes pub will be opening
up its historical and intimate Jacobean upstairs room for music, comedy and theatre. Also
new for 2022 is Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein, which will house an immersive
theatre experience by Bath Fringe supported company FakeEscape.
Landmark Bath venues including The Rondo Theatre, Chapel Arts Centre, Komedia and the
Old Theatre Royal will all be returning to the festival, with a strong and varied programme of
music, theatre, comedy, and more. For casual pub gigs you can do no better than the
famous Bell pub on Walcot Street, which will be hosting a plethora of bands and artists
during the festival.
Fringe Arts Bath (FAB) will also be returning this summer, in partnership with the Fringe, a
programme of visual art exhibitions and participation events. The programme will include
some innovative and surprising offerings in addition to established favourites like The Bath
Photo Marathon.

The Bath Fringe Festival brochure is now out and available to pick up from various locations
around Bath, and you can visit the Bath Fringe Festival website to find out What’s On across
the 25 venues taking part in the fringe.